1968 Chevy Camaro - F-Body Garage

It Lives!
Some cars are just destined to be built, no matter how long it takes, or how many obstacles pop up in the way of an idea becoming a reality. A perfect example is the 1968 Chevy Camaro owned by Tyler Beauregard. It was over a decade ago when he got the itch to modify his F-body. Hell, the whole Pro Touring deal was just getting rolling. As Tyler recalled, "After driving the Mallett-prepped C5 Corvette that took top spot in the '99 One Lap Of America race, I wanted my '68 to feel like that in every respect: handling, power, driveability, and performance. At age 21 I did everything I could to turn my car into a late-model Corvette. I purchased a rolling chassis from GM and sent it and the body to Wayne Due's Chassis Shop to have a full frame fabricated based on the C5. It took about three years to complete, and when it was set on its own wheels in 2003, it was the first first-gen Camaro based on a C5 Corvette ever made."

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To get the look just right, Tyler hired artist John McBride to sketch up a five-piece body kit that not only gave it the classic racecar looks, but also added much-needed downforce. The project was named 50/50 in reference to Tyler's goal of perfect weight balance. Things were going good up until that point. "The car was sent to Ctek in California to have the body kit made in carbon fiber. This turned out to be a disaster. The car was left outside in bare metal for two years and was covered in rust. The company eventually went under, taking my hard-earned money and paid-for body kit molds with them. The car sat in storage as I got my first company, American Touring Specialties (now a part of Speedtech Performance), off the ground."

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The body kit debacle left Tyler short on funds, but even worse, he lost excitement about the build. Fortunately, the spark was reignited in 2008 and Tyler dragged the wayward project out of storage and sent it to the metal-working masters over at Ironworks Speed and Kustom. Tyler explained, "During the inspection, Rodger Lee found a few items that required fixing, and rather than band-aid the chassis, I gave the green light to start over from scratch. He re-made the chassis with round tubing, saving hundreds of pounds from the car. They are also doing the bodywork, and sheetmetal work on the interior." The Camaro will still roll a Vette chassis and will be powered by an LS engine, while parts from Pfadt, Penske, and Brembo will help the '68 turn and stop. With any luck, Tyler's long-time dream should be rumbling to life in the not-too-distant future.